Amusement device

ABSTRACT

An amusement device featuring a trackway along which a vehicle moves including automatic turn-around sections at the ends of the trackway permitting the vehicle to reverse its direction of travel and a stand wherein the movement of the vehicle is halted while a second vehicle traverses the stand after which the vehicle continues its forward motion.

United States Patent Usami [54] AMUSEMENT DEVICE [72] Inventor: HikooUsami, Tokyo, Japan [73] Assignee: Tomy Kogyo Co., Ltd., Tokyo,

Japan [22] Filed: Oct. 28, 1971 [21] App]. No.: 193,310

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec.28, 1970 Japan ..45/l36625[52] US. Cl ..46/206 [51] Int. Cl. ..'.....A63h 17/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..46/l R, 1 C, 206, 216, 202

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,540,153 11/1970 Aoki..46/2l6 X Oct. 17, 1972 3,589,063 6/1971 Genin ..46/2l6 3,559,3342/l97l Beny et al ..46/206 661,926 ll/l 900 Agor ..46/216 3 ,5 18,7897/1970 Domashovetz ..46/202 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene AssistantExaminer-D. L. Weinhold Attorney-Edward S. Irons et al.

[57] ABSTRACT An amusement device featuring a trackway along which avehicle moves including automatic turnaround sections at the ends of thetrackway permitting the vehicle to reverse its direction of travel and astand wherein the movement of the vehicle is halted while a secondvehicle traverses the stand after which the vehicle continues itsforward motion.

6 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures AMUSEMENT DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The trackway is provided withornamentation so as to depict for the child the plight of the mothersnail crawling from tree trunk to tree trunk in search of the babysnail. The mother snail vehicle includes a batterypowered motor forpropelling the snail along the trackway. At one end of the trackway islocated the sunflower tree. Upon arrival at the tree, a ladybug journeyseither up or down its trunk while the sunflower continues to rotate.After the lady bug has completed its journey the mother snail ispermitted to continue her travel along the trackway. At the other end ofthe trackway is located a, second tree provided with a releasable clampholding the baby snail. As the mother snail arrives at the tree theclamp is lowered permitting the child to deposit the snail on themothers back through the action of a magnetic force. At the ends of thetrackway are located automatic turn-around sections permitting themother snail upon reaching the end of the trackway to rotate through 180to begin anew.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of theamusement device illustrating the mother snail vehicle moving along thetrackway, the sunflower tree,turn-around sections and the second treeprovided with the clamp for releasing the baby snail;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the vehicle with one side of itscasing removed so as to expose the mechanism for propelling same;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a part of the vehicle with the batteryhousing removed so as to expose the mechanism for propelling same;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of a portion of the vehicleillustrating the driving gear thereof meshing with the trackway, shownin section, illustrating how the rotating driving gear of the vehicleengages the continuous rack formed as an integral part of the trackway;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view enlarging that portion of the mothersnail within the circular arrow shown in FIG. 1 illustrating one of thepinion wheels operated by the motor of the vehicle and its action torotate colorful disks mounted in the sides of the vehicle;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the sunflower tree with one sectionof its casing removed so as to illustrate the mechanism for stopping thevehicle, continuously rotating the sunflower and causing a secondvehicle to move either up or down the trunk of the tree;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a part of the sunflower tree withone section of its casing removed illustrating the vehicle at rest atwhich time the second vehicle (not shown) is traveling;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of a part of the sunflower tree withone section of its casing removed illustrating the vehicle beginning itsforward movement as the second vehicle (not shown) is at rest;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 6illustrating how the second vehicle is mounted for movement along thesunflower tree;

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view illustrating one of the twoturn-around sections wherein the vehicle is rotated through uponreaching each end of the trackway;

FIG.=11 is a cross-sectional view of one of the turnaround sectionsillustrating its construction; and

FIG. 12 is a bottom view of the top section of one of the turn-aroundsections illustrating further construction and operation thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The trackway is illustratedgenerally by the reference numeral 10in FIG. 1 and comprises a series ofrail sections 12 appropriately joinedtogether by clamps 14. Within thetop of each rail section 12 is located a continuous rack 16 defining thepath of travel of the mother snail vehicle designated generally byreference numeral 18 as will be described in detail hereinafter.

From left to right as seen in FIG. 1, the trackway 10 is provided with atree 20 within which is mounted a releasable clamp 22. Although the tree20 and clamp 22 are not important to the present invention, it isapparent that spring mechanisms are employed permitting clamp 22 to moveup and down, as desired, while further permitting the arms of clamp 22to move inwardly and outwardly. In such manner, as the mother sgailvehicle 18 moves to the end of the trackway 10 adjacent tree 20 it ispossible for the child to deposit the baby snail 24 on the back of themother snail vehicle 18. For this purpose, the baby snail 24 and themother snail 18 are provided with magnets.

As further seen in FIG. 1, adjacent the tree 20 is I located the firstof two turn-around sections 26. Although the operation of eachturn-around section 26 will be described in detail hereinafter, it ispresently noted that the function thereof is to permit the mother snail18, upon reaching either end of the trackway 10, to be rotatedautomatically through 180 so as to begin travel along the trackway 10inthe opposite direction.

A second tree 28 is located at the right end of the trackway 10 andincludes appropriate mechanism, described in detail hereinafter,permitting continuous rotation of a sunflower 30 as a ladybug vehicle 32moves up and down the trunk of the tree 28. Furthermore, as the mothersnail 18 reaches the tree 28, forward motion thereof is stopped untilthe ladybug 32 traverses the length of the trunk of the tree 28.

The mother snail vehicle l8,'as illustrated in FIGS. 24, will now bedescribed in detail. Within the casing 34 is suitably positioned aminiature electric motor 36 suitably wired to be run by a battery 38positioned within housing 40. Such miniature electrical motorconstruction is well-known in the prior art.

As motor 36 is energized, the pinion wheel 42 formed at the end of theshaft of the motor rotates, in turn, causing gears 44 and 46 to rotate.Gear 46 is mounted on shaft 48 oppositely disposed from gear 50 whichdrives gear 52 which is mounted upon shaft 54 which terminates at eachend in pinion wheels 56, the purpose of which will be explained later.Shaft 54 also contains gear 58 which drives gear 60 mounted on shaft 62which is further provided with a simple cam mechanism 64, the purpose ofwhich will be explained later. Note further that gear 50 also mates withthe main driving gear 66 which protrudes through the bottom of casing 34for purposes of powering, as described in detail hereinafter, the mothersnail vehicle 18 along the trackway 10. Finally, rod 70 functions as aclutch to disengage gear 46 from gear 44 when pressed inwardly againstthe force of spring 72.

The operation of the mother snail vehicle 18 will now be described. Asmotor 36 is actuated, the rotation of pinion wheel 42 rotates gear 44which in turn rotates gears 46 and 50 located on shaft 48. The rotationof gear 50 in turn rotates main driving gear 66, the teeth 74 thereofmeshing with the teeth of the continuous rack 16 formed along thetrackway, as illustrated in FIG. 4. This causes the mother snail vehicle18 to move forwardly along the trackway 10. When it is desired totemporarily halt the movement of the mother snail 18, rod 70 is pushedinwardly, as seen in FIG. 3, thus disengaging gears 44 and 46 in turnhalting rotation of driving gear 66.

The mother snail vehicle 18 is provided with vertically positioned rod76 terminating at its upper end in section 78 so configured as the eyesof the mother snail 18 and at its lower end in flange 80 against whichthe cam 64 abuts. Thus, as the cam 64 rotates about shaft 62 itperiodically raises rod 76 upwardly creating the amusing sight of thesnails eyes 78 moving upwardly and downwardly.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 5, each side of the mother snail 18 is providedwith a colorful insert 82 mounted about pin 84. Accordingly, and as seenin detail in FIG. 5, each rotating pinion wheel 56 mates with the edge86 of the insert 82 causing same to rotate clockwise for purposes offurther amusing the child.

The operation of the sunflower tree 28 will now be described. Within thetrunk 88 of the sunflower tree 28 is mounted for rotation helical member90, the ends of which are appropriately journaled about shafts 92 and94. The sunflower 96 is mounted upon upper shaft 94 as seen in FIG. 6.The ladybug 32 comprises, as seen in FIG. 9, a face member 98 bearingindicia representative of the bug, rearwardly extending arms 100 soconfigured as to fit within trunk 88 and middle flange 101 passinginwardly between adjacent portions of the helical member 90. As will beapparent from FIG. 6, as helical member 90 is rotated in one directionthe ladybug 32 is moved upwardly along trunk 88 while rotating helicalmember 90 in the reverse direction forces the ladybug 32 downwardly.

The tree 28 is further provided with a base 102 extending beneath thetrackway as illustrated in FIGS. l and 6. Within base 102 is locatedshaft 104 terminating at one end in gear 106 meshing with gear 108formed at the terminal end of shaft 92 located within the trunk 88. Theother end of shaft 104, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, terminates ingear 110 suitably journaled within base 102. A braking mechanismdesignated generally by reference numeral 112 is mounted on shaft 104and biassed outwardly towards gear 110 by the action of spring 114. Thefunction of the braking mechanism 112 will be explained in detail later.

Finally, and as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, that portion of thetrackway 10 adjacent base 102 is provided with a rotatably mounted gear116, the upper periphery of which is contoured to conform to thecontinuous rack 16 of the trackway 10.

The operation of the sunflower tree 28 will now be described. As themother snail vehicle 18 travels along the trackway 10 the driving gear66 eventually contacts the gear 116. At this juncture, and isillustrated in FIG. 7, the forward motion of the vehicle 18 is abruptlyhalted by contact with braking member 112. Simultaneously, the rotatingdriving gear 66 causes gear 116 to rotate in turn imparting rotation togear causing shaft 104 to rotate in turn rotating the shaft 92 and thehelical spring 90. Importantly, the vehicle 18 remains in position overgear 116 by the braking action of member 112. Thus, the rotation ofhelical spring 90 causes the ladybug 32 to move upwardly along the trunk88 while simultaneously the sunflower 96 rotates. As the ladybug 32reaches its uppermost position, as seen in FIG. 6, it butts upagainstthe surface 1 18 of the trunk 88. This, in turn, causes therotation of the helical member 90 to cease in turn forcing gear 116 toremain stationary. At this time, the exposed periphery of the gear 116functions merely as a part of the continuous rack 16 permitting thevehicle 18 to lurch forward against braking mechanism 112, asillustrated in FIG. 8. This force is sufficient to push the brakingmember 1 l2 aside permitting the vehicle 18 to continue along thetrackway.

Eventually, the vehicle returns to the sunflower tree 28 from theopposite direction at which time the sequence of operation previouslydescribed is merely reversed. That is, the sunflower 28 rotatescontinuously while the ladybug 32 moves downwardly along the trunk 88.As the ladybug 32 hits the bottom of the tree casing 88, gear 116 ceasesto rotate and the vehicle continues along its route-of travel.

The construction of the turn-around sections 26 is illustrated in FIGS.10-12. As explained previously, the function of each turn-around section26 is to permit the mother snail vehicle 18 upon reaching the ends ofthe trackway 10 to reverse its travel through 180.

As seen in FIG. 10, each turn-around section comprises an upper section120 and a lower section 122. The upper section 120 is provided with araised portion 124 containing teeth 126 defining a continuation of therack 16 of the trackway 10. Mounted for rotation within upper section120 is gear 128, the upper periphery thereof mating with the teeth 126.

The lower section 122 is provided with a continuous rack 130 designed tomate with gear 132. A spring 134 is looped around hub 136 of the lowersection 122 having one end 138 thereof secured to post 140 formed as anintegral part of the upper section 120 and the other end 142 thereofsecured to a post 144 formed as an integral part of the lower section122. The purpose of the spring 134 is to bias the upper, movable section120 in that position generally illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11. Finally,the reference numeral 146 designates a wedging mechanism normallybiassed upward by the action of spring 148 preventing the vehicle 18from moving outwardly past gear 128 unless it is manually depressed.

As will now be apparent, as the mother snail vehicle 18 enters theturn-around section 26, the driving gear 66 meshes with teeth 126 withinthe upper section 120 until the driving gear 66 reaches gear 128 atwhich time the vehicle stops, assisted by wedging mechanism 146. At thisjuncture, the driving gear 66 of the vehicle 18 continues to rotate inturn rotating gear 128 in turn imparting rotation to gear 150 in turnrotating gear 132 which meshes with rack 130 formed as a part of thelower section 122 causing the upper section 120 to rotatecounterclockwise relative to lower section 122 against the action ofspring 134. Thus, the upper section 120 rotates through 180 at whichtime post 144 of the lower section 122 and post 152 of the upper section120 abuts preventing further rotation. At this point, the rotation ofgear 128 is halted permitting the vehicle to move forward along theteeth of gear 128 until mating with the teeth 126 after which thevehicle 18 continues along the trackway in reverse. As the turn-aroundsections 26 are employed at each end of trackway 10, the action iscontinuous and the mother snail vehicle 18 travels back and forth untilstopped.

lclaimi 1. An amusement device, comprising:

a. a trackway provided with a continuous rack;

b. a vehicle provided with a driving gear and means rotating saiddriving gear so as to mesh with said rack propelling said vehicle alongsaid trackway; and

c. a stand connected to said trackway, said stand including a helicalmember rotatably mounted therein, a gear rotatably mounted in saidtrackway interrupting said continuous rack therein, means rotating saidhelical member as said gear in said trackway is rotated by said drivinggear of said vehicle, means stopping movement of said vehicle along saidtrackway as said driving gear thereof rotates said gear of saidtrackway, a second vehicle, means mounting said second vehicle formovement along said stand from a first position to a second position,said second vehicle being provided with a flange disposed betweenadjacent portions of said helical member such that as said helicalmember rotates said second vehicle is moved along said stand and meanspermitting said vehicle to continue its movement along said trackway assaid second vehicle reaches said second position.

2. An amusement device as in claim 1, said vehicle further including atleast one colorful disk mounted for rotation, said means rotating saiddriving gear also rotating said disk.

3. An amusement device as in claim 1, said vehicle further including arod configured as the eyes of an animal and mounted for rectilinearmotion and means sequentially moving said rod up and down using thepower generated by said means for rotating said driving gear.

4. An amusement device as in claim 1, said means stopping movement ofsaid vehicle along said trackway as said driving gear thereof rotatessaid gear of said trackway comprises a braking arm, means mounting saidarm within said stand to move between a first position wherein a portionof said arm extends into the path of said vehicle along said trackwayand a second position wherein said arm i s removed from the path of saidvehicle and means resiliently urging said braking arm into said firstposition.

5. An amusement device, comprising:

a. a first trackway having ends between which is provided a rack and agear wheel operatively mounted for rotation interrupting said rack;

b. a first vehicle provided with. a driving gear and means rotating saiddriving gear so as to mesh with said rack propelling said vehicle alongsaid first trackway;

c. means at each of said ends of said first trackway for reversing thedirection said first vehicle travels along said first trackway;

d. a second trackway; and

e. a second vehicle, means mounting said second vehicle to travel alongsaid second trackway, and means propelling said second vehicle in onedirection along said second trackway as the movement of said firstvehicle in one direction along said first trackway is stopped and saiddriving gear of said first vehicle meshes with and rotates said gearwheel of said first trackway and propelling said second vehicle in adifferent direction along said second trackway as the movement of saidfirst vehicle in the opposite direction along said first trackway isstopped and said driving gear of said first vehicle meshes with androtates said gear wheel of said first trackway.

6. An amusement device as in claim 5, including means preventing furtherrotation of said gear wheel of said first trackway after said secondvehicle travels a predetermined distance along said second trackway atwhich time said driving wheel of said first vehicle meshes with thestationary gear wheel of said first trackway propelling said firstvehicle along said first trackway.

1. An amusement device, comprising: a. a trackway provided with acontinuous rack; b. a vehicle provided with a driving gear and meansrotating said driving gear so as to mesh with said rack propelling saidvehicle along said trackway; and c. a stand connected to said trackway,said stand including a helical member rotatably mounted therein, a gearrotatably mounted in said trackway interrupting said continuous racktherein, means rotating said helical member as said gear in saidtrackway is rotated by said driving gear of said vehicle, means stoppingmovement of said vehicle along said trackway as said driving gearthereof rotates said gear of said trackway, a second vehicle, meansmounting said second vehicle for movement along said stand from a firstposition to a second position, said second vehicle being provided with aflange disposed between adjacEnt portions of said helical member suchthat as said helical member rotates said second vehicle is moved alongsaid stand and means permitting said vehicle to continue its movementalong said trackway as said second vehicle reaches said second position.2. An amusement device as in claim 1, said vehicle further including atleast one colorful disk mounted for rotation, said means rotating saiddriving gear also rotating said disk.
 3. An amusement device as in claim1, said vehicle further including a rod configured as the eyes of ananimal and mounted for rectilinear motion and means sequentially movingsaid rod up and down using the power generated by said means forrotating said driving gear.
 4. An amusement device as in claim 1, saidmeans stopping movement of said vehicle along said trackway as saiddriving gear thereof rotates said gear of said trackway comprises abraking arm, means mounting said arm within said stand to move between afirst position wherein a portion of said arm extends into the path ofsaid vehicle along said trackway and a second position wherein said armis removed from the path of said vehicle and means resiliently urgingsaid braking arm into said first position.
 5. An amusement device,comprising: a. a first trackway having ends between which is provided arack and a gear wheel operatively mounted for rotation interrupting saidrack; b. a first vehicle provided with a driving gear and means rotatingsaid driving gear so as to mesh with said rack propelling said vehiclealong said first trackway; c. means at each of said ends of said firsttrackway for reversing the direction said first vehicle travels alongsaid first trackway; d. a second trackway; and e. a second vehicle,means mounting said second vehicle to travel along said second trackway,and means propelling said second vehicle in one direction along saidsecond trackway as the movement of said first vehicle in one directionalong said first trackway is stopped and said driving gear of said firstvehicle meshes with and rotates said gear wheel of said first trackwayand propelling said second vehicle in a different direction along saidsecond trackway as the movement of said first vehicle in the oppositedirection along said first trackway is stopped and said driving gear ofsaid first vehicle meshes with and rotates said gear wheel of said firsttrackway.
 6. An amusement device as in claim 5, including meanspreventing further rotation of said gear wheel of said first trackwayafter said second vehicle travels a predetermined distance along saidsecond trackway at which time said driving wheel of said first vehiclemeshes with the stationary gear wheel of said first trackway propellingsaid first vehicle along said first trackway.